Dedham
Parish Council

DEDHAM PARISH COUNCIL 

Minutes of PARISH ASSEMBLY held on
Wednesday, 9^th May, 2007, in The Assembly Rooms

Present:  In the Chair:  Cllr. Mrs. V. Guglielmi

                Councillors:   Mrs. A. Cannon, R. Cannon, R.. Laverick, P. Moorhouse,

                                       J. Osborn, Mrs. L. West.

                Clerk:             Mrs. J. Flewin

                Electors          9

 1.  APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE received from Cllr. Cort.  

2.  MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING   The Minutes of the meeting held on 10^th May, 2006, were read and approved subject to the following amendment: Item 6., para.2 line 2. should read “horse chestnut tree” not “oak tree”. 

3. MATTERS ARISING will be covered in the Chairman’s Report. 

4. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT   The year finished on a sad note with the sudden death of Cllr. David Bradbrook who had served as a Councillor for many years and will be sorely missed.   This was followed by the resignation for personal reasons of Cllr. Charles Clover.  However we were fortunate in co-opting Mrs. Ann Cannon to fill one of the vacancies and we wish her well.  We must also congratulate our Quiz Team who, despite being one member short, won for the second year running. 

We have had another busy year with the opening of the surgery on the 8^th December.

Unfortunately at the present time we have no medical practice in place but  the affordable housing has been filled, all with local residents.  I think the biggest decision made this year was to take on a Police Community Support Officer.  This followed extensive negotiations instituted by our Neighbourhood Watch Team with Inspector Mays and the general public and I can report that Natalie King has started training and will be taking up the post of Dedham PCSO in early June.  We are grateful that the Duchy Barn has been made available as her village base. 

Once again our Planning Committee has had an extremely busy year.  Unfortunately after all their hard work they could not save The Anchor Public House, but they constantly strive on our behalf to keep an overall balance in the interests of the village as a whole. 

I would like to thank all my fellow Councillors who have worked very hard over the past twelve months, Mr. and Mrs. Ruff who yet again have kept up the battle against litter in our village and those members of the public who attend our meetings.  Their input is invaluable.  Last but not least  heartfelt thanks to Jean, our Clerk.  Her support of myself and the rest of the Council is never ending and we are all very grateful.

5.  ACCOUNTS   The Income and Expenditure Accounts for the year ending 31^st March, 2006, were presented to the meeting.  These were approved subject to audit. 

6. REPORT OF BOROUGH COUNCILLOR   Cllr. Garnett was delighted that the Village Design Statement was progressing as he felt this was very important in the light of the overall expansion of  housing and the possible detrimental effect on villages.   Although the aim for the new surgery continues to be that of a medical practice some investigations into complimentary health practices will be made.

Essex County Council is now responsible for all actual highway matters and Colchester Borough Council is the contact for items such as litter bins, street signs, etc. The battle against HGV lorries on our rural roads goes on and we should continue to encourage ECC to campaign against continental navigation systems which direct traffic down our narrow lanes. 

7. REPORT OF COUNTY COUNCILLOR  Cllr. Clover explained the new planning processes which were gradually emerging which it was hoped would make the system more open, give more opportunities for consultation before applications were made and simplify enforcement procedures.   In view of the several vacancies which had existed in the Mary Barfield Trust properties Cllr. Clover had obtained permission to extend advertising to include Colchester and also reduce age and status qualifications.  He was happy to report that new residents had moved into two of the properties with one retained empty for future local availability. 

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS   Mr. & Mrs. Archer wondered if anything could be done about road cleaning in view of the fact that parked cars made it impossible for the mechanical sweeper to get to the gutters.  It was agreed that this was a matter which could be raised during the forthcoming village “walkabout”.    

Before the meeting closed Mr. Archer wished to say thank you to the Parish Council for all their hard work on behalf of the village for which they were most grateful. 

The Chairman thanked residents for their attendance and closed the meeting at 9.10 p.m.